Marriage: The Power of Perseverance

The Power of Perseverance

Americans' affection for divorce may finally be waning. In 1982 the number of U.S. divorces declined for the first time in 20 years, according to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics. The divorce rate, which measures marriage breakups per 1,000 people, also dipped, by 6%. That drop "was more precipitous than any annual decline since the steep, but temporary, surge in marriages and divorces in the aftermath of World War II," said Demographer Barbara Foley Wilson, who wrote the study. The actual numbers, though, are not all that heartwarming: in 1982 divorces decreased by only 43,000, from a...